The Republic of Moldova has no institution responsible for the coordination and implementation of policies for the Roma community. In the absence of such an institution, the National Plan for Supporting the Roma Population for 2016-2020 is implemented inappropriately. Some of the institutions responsible for the implementation of this plan are not interested in carrying out the projected measures. The conclusions were reached following the presentation by the Voice of the Roma Coalition of the monitoring reports for 2019 in such fields as Education, Healthcare, Labor, and Community Mediator based on the plan.
In a news conference at IPN, Silvia Feraru, secretary of the Voice of the Roma Coalition, said the National Plan for Supporting the Roma Population for 2019 was implemented to a smaller extent. Only 27 of the actions were carried out, while 73 are under the level that could generate a perceptible impact on the Roma. The largest number of actions reported by institutions haven’t been tailored and thought out especially for the Roma communities, being general in character. In the field of labor and social protection, most of the actions stipulated in the plan were implemented with delay, while five of them haven’t been put into practice. “The responsible state institutions haven’t made any effort or do not have the capacity to reduce poverty for the people,” stated Silvia Feraru.
To remove the inconsistencies, the Voice of the Roma Coalition recommends modifying the framework for implementing policies for the Roma, delegating these responsibilities to a distinct entity of the central public administration and creating an entity that would focus on the Roma community under the Government.
Ion Duminică, a member of the Voice of the Roma Coalition, said the Education section contained 16 planned actions and 30% of them were implemented. The action “organization of meditation programs for the Roma children” was carried out the worst. A wide discrepancy is seen when comparing the number of children who are included in the education system and of those who live in a locality. Most of the Roma children are not integrated into the education process. The largest numbers of such children were recorded in Edineț town and in Talmaza village – over 200 and, respectively, 70.
For 2020, it is recommended engaging community mediators and Roma leaders in the implementation of projects in the education sector and initiating on time the measures needed to fulfill the 16 planned measures.
Elena Sîrbu, a member of the Voice of the Roma Coalition, said that one of the five measures proposed in Health was fully implemented. This is the carrying out of a poll among Romani people to see if these have health insurance policies. But this was done three years later than planned.
According to Valeriu Căldăraru, of the Coalition’s secretariat, the pandemic showed how vulnerable the Roma community is at all the levels, starting with health and ending with social services. Even if the plan stipulated the “promotion of the community mediator” as a measure (48 community mediators are to be employed in 44 communities by the end of 2020), nothing has been done. “The community mediator is the only chain that supports the Roma community at the local level,” stated Valeriu Căldăraru.
The Voice of the Roma Coalition consists of 35 organizations. According to the Coalition’s data, 250,000 Romani people live in 285 localities in Moldova.
